The present invention relates to an automatic machine that is capable of breaking off and stripping the shell from fresh eggs that are supplied to it in sequence by a conveyor or similar means, as well as distinctly collecting the yolk and the albumen of each one of the eggs in view of the separate storage of the yolk and the albumen in appropriate containers.
Such machines are generally of a carrousel type, having a closed loop conveyor extending in a horizontal plane and carrying a plurality of compact operative groups, each one of which cyclically receives an egg from a feeder, breaks off the shell of the egg by means of a knife-type apparatus, and separately collects the yolk and the albumen thereof into respective appropriately sized cups placed on each other so that they can be conveyed into respective separate storage containers. In particular, in each compact operative group both the shell breaking means and the collecting cups are arranged above each other and aligned vertically. Machines of this kind are for instance described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,838 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,864.
In view of the desire to reduce the space requirements of such carrousel-like machines, automatic egg shelling machines have been proposed which have a plurality of continuous operative lines in a side-by-side arrangement, each line extending vertically. A machine of this kind is for example described in Italian patent A 1,223,181. In this document, each operative line is in turn formed by two separate closed-loop conveyors that are arranged above each other to extend on the same vertical plane. In particular, the upper conveyor carries a plurality of egg-shell breaking apparatuses, whereas the lower conveyor carries a plurality of groups for separately collecting the yolks and the albumens of the eggs.
The solution of the Italian patent enables an output capacity to be reached that is certainly greater than that of the carrousel-type machines. However, this solution still has some drawbacks:
In particular, in each operative line, the movement of the two conveyors running one above the other must be accurately synchronized so as to enable the contents of the eggs that are supported and shelled at the corresponding upper conveyor to be correctly collected on the front portion of the machine in correspondence with the lower conveyor. This involves undesirable complications of the machine from both the point of view of its construction as well as its function.
Furthermore, because sanitary regulations call for the egg yolks and the albumens collected in the lower conveyors to be regularly inspected, a need arises for the lower conveyors to extend horizontally beyond the corresponding upper conveyors. Because of this, the whole machine is under definite shape and size constraints, particularly lengthwise, that prevent the machine from being compact to any satisfactory extent.
The above-discussed displacement of the conveyors with respect to each other does not allow for an adequate inspection to be carried out of both the shells of the eggs in the upper conveyors and their contents on the lower conveyors by a single operator at the same time. This of course makes it quite difficult, and critical, to operate and use the machine under the highest possible sanitary safety conditions. In any case, an operator inspecting the collecting portion is quite likely to fail to take notice of eggs that may possibly remain unshelled, i.e. not broken, due to a malfunction. This results in the unshelled eggs being sent directly to discharge, resulting in a reduced production yield and reduced efficiency of the machine.
The broken shells are intended to fall and collect in a screw-type discharge channel similar to a gutter that is arranged at the base of the upper conveyors in correspondence with an end portion (return point) beyond which the lower conveyors extend. Therefore during translation of the broken shells along the upper conveyors, filamentous dripping of the albumen may occur, which settles on the edge of the gutter-like channel. As a result, subsequently a substantially continuous filiform fall of albumen occurs from the channel. Should one of the shelled eggs turn out to be of a non-edible quality, the dripping albumen from this egg can progressively contaminate the discharge channel, the collecting means carried on the conveyors under the discharge channel and the product collected thereby. The consequences of such a process are clearly apparent.
Similar contamination problems can arise from the various reservoirs in which the edible product (yolk, albumen and mixed product) is stored, since they are situated downstream of reservoirs used to store the non-edible product, i.e. the product that is unfit for food. In fact, should the product contained in the collecting means be found to be non-edible, the same collecting means is actuated by an operator to cause it to discharge the product into the appropriately provided storage reservoir. It is therefore practically impossible to prevent dripping of the non-edible product from taking place at the subsequent storage reservoirs, where they eventually contaminate the contents. The problem is particularly noted with respect to the reservoir where the yolks are stored, because this reservoir is generally arranged at the rear end portion of the machine on the outside of the operative lines, i.e. at a position at which the direction of movement of the lower conveyors is reversed and, as a result, dripping is more likely to occur. On the other hand, the relative arrangement of the various storage reservoirs is necessary in order to provide sufficient space for the operator to conveniently inspect the product which is carried by the collecting means without any need arising for the space that is occupied by the machine in the lengthwise direction to be further increased.
Some of the more delicate yolks can undesirably rupture when falling from a shell-breaking apparatus down to the respective collecting means providing therebelow. This drawback is common to carrousel-type egg shelling machines provided with compact shell-breaking and collecting means, because the shortest possible yolk-falling height is usually determined by geometric and/or size constraints. The practical result is a substantial drop in the efficiency of such machines.